The Swan Princess 4: The Last Airbender
by Lithuiwen2016
Summary: Derek and Odette have discovered something wonderful, but before they can celebrate, a new enemy appears, but when this dark figure attacks, the Forbidden Arts sends them to another world where people can control the elements themselves, and Derek and Odette's only hope of going home may be a young boy named Aang. Adopted from & written for Autobot00001.
1. Chapter 1

Lightning flashed in the Blood Mountains and thunder crackled as deep beneath them, in an underground lair, a cloaked figure raised his hand over a glass orb and began chanting, "Vola bid tu ana binaye contora innextre koxus."

The dark figure then took his hand away from the orb, and a swirling red vortex emerged from the orb. As it grew upward, it also grew in size until it began to shrink and become narrower. It became smaller and smaller until it shrank back into the orb, and once it did, jolts of red electricity began to spark within the orb. The sorcerer placed his hand on the orb and felt the energy surge through him. He then chuckled darkly, "It's about time that I was given the Power to Destroy. The one power I was never taught…but I'm not going to use it just yet."

"Why not, master?" asked a voice. The cloaked man turned to see his servant, "Now is the perfect time for you to take control of the kingdom!"

"I know, but these things shouldn't be rushed," the man responded, "Remember what happened to my mentor and his two cohorts?"

"Former cohorts, master," the servant corrected, earning himself a glare from his master, "Forgive me, master!"

His master simply rolled his eyes and turned back to the orb, "Anyways, they rushed into it without that much planning," he began, "If I'm gonna take over the kingdom, and eventually the world, I'll need a strategy. And after the incident with my mentor, I've learned the valuable lesson that patience is indeed a virtue."

"A strategy, my lord?" the servant asked.

"Yes," the master said with a nod, "Because if I die, the Forbidden Arts die with me, so I have to prevent myself from dying until I can find an apprentice to carry on my legacy."

The servant looked at his master in confusion, "How?"

"Easy," the master responded, "Who are the two people who have had more success trying to destroy the Forbidden Arts than anyone else?"

"Prince Derek and Princess Odette," the servant answered.

"Exactly," the master confirmed, "Take them out of the picture, and no one will be able to stop me. But first, did you find it?"

The dark figure's servant nodded and took out what appeared to be a fossilized animal talon, "Yes, master."

"Excellent," the master chuckled as he took the talon and absorbed its energy, "You've been a good servant to me, but I'm afraid your services are no longer required."

The servant looked at his master in confusion, "Master?" But before his servant could do anything else, the dark figure unleased the energy within him from his palms and created a flash of blinding light. As it faded, the servant looked to see something that truly terrified him, but before he could react, he screamed in terror as he heard a loud roar and was incinerated in a blast of fire.

Odette hummed happily as she strolled along the lake. A cool breeze fluttered across her face, and she closed her eyes as she savored it. A pair of hands covered her closed eyes from behind, causing her to gasp, but a gentle voice calmed her.

"Guess who?" Odette giggled, and a cheeky smile crossed her face.

"Mmm, Bromley?" She heard the person behind her chuckle.

"Nope, try again." She giggled and smiled.

"Rogers, is that you?" She continued to tease him. She heard him grumble.

"No." She decided to give one last jab. She gasped in fake surprise.

"Jean-Bob! You really are a prince!" The hands flew off her face and there stood her husband, looking affronted.

"Ok, Rogers is still fine, but I draw the line at being mistaken for a frog." Derek said, a pout on his face and his arms crossed. Odette laughed and gave him an apologetic kiss on the cheek. Derek rolled his eyes and gave her a hug.

"And I would be most gracious if you never mistake me for this buffoon again." The couple pulled apart to look down at the frog and turtle that had appeared at their side. Odette giggled at the frog's pout.

"Now, Jean-Bob, I was only teasing." Odette said gently. Jean-Bob crossed his … and continued to pout. Speed rolled his eyes at the frog's antics. Odette and Derek chuckled at their friends. A shadow flew overhead, and the four looked up as Puffin came into land.

"You wished to see us, Odette?" Puffin asked, bowing slightly. Derek turned to his wife. She suddenly seemed very nervous.

"Yes… I went to the physician, yesterday." The three animals and one man glanced between each other. Odette had been feeling ill for the past few weeks. She had been experiencing nausea for the past few mornings, and she seemed to tire easily. Derek stepped closer to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, trying to keep the trickle of panic from overflowing. They had been through so much already. Rothbart, Clavius and Zelda. And now this? What if she became ill?

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just… well…" She seemed to struggle with the words. Speed stepped forward, worry in his features.

"What is it, Odette?" He asked gently. Odette took a deep breath and faced her husband and friends.

"Well… I'm pregnant." Their eyes widened in shock and Jean-Bob fell flat on his back. Derek gazed at his wife.

"Are… are you serious?" He asked in shock and surprise. Odette smiled nervously and nodded.

Derek couldn't believe it. They were going to have a baby. They were going to be parents!

"Derek?" Odette was becoming nervous. They hadn't really talked about having children yet… what if didn't want…

All doubts flew out the window as Derek suddenly hugged her laughing as he spun her in a circle. Odette laughed with him as she placed her hands on his shoulders for added support. When he placed her on back on the ground, he sweeped her into a heartwarming kiss.

"Ha ha! Congratulations Odette!" Puffin said, flying a loop-di-loop over their heads.

"You guys are gonna be great parents." Speed said, smiling. Jean-Bob sat up holding his head.

"While I am not really pleased with this announcement… I congratulate you." Odette and Derek rolled their eyes at the frog, before Derek excitedly turned to his wife.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" He asked, a smile on his face. Odette giggled.

"Derek, I only just found out. I don't think we'll know for a while yet." She said smiling.

"Hmph, you'd think a man would be smart enough to know that." Jean-Bob mumbled. Once again, everyone rolled their eyes at the pessimistic frog.

Suddenly, an ominous boom went off in the distance. Speed retracted his head into his shell, Jean-Bob fell over again, screaming. Puffin froze midflight and fell a few feet, while Odette and Derek both gasped.

"What was that?" Derek wondered aloud, looking around. Puffin flew high into the air to investigate. The huge smoke column coming from the village made him gasp and speed back to earth.

"The… the village… it looks like a fire." He quickly explained. Derek turned to his wife.

"Odette, stay here." He ordered gently, causing Odette's eyes to widen in shock.

"What? Derek, I…" He didn't let her finish. He reached up and cupped her cheeks.

"Please Odette, I can't risk putting you or the baby in danger." He said gently, but Odette shook her head.

"I'm going with you, and you can't stop me." With that, she stomped past her husband. He floundered a little before shrugging. He turned to his fellows.

"Let's go, gentlemen." He said to them, before taking off after Odette. Speed and Puffin followed no questions asked, Jean-Bob lingered a little. Finally, he threw his hands in the air and hopped after them.

A few minutes of horseback riding later, they reached the village square, where the blaze was originating from. They couldn't see the source of the blaze, but thankfully, it seemed that no one had been hurt. Derek dismounted and helped Odette off of her mount, before he spotted Rogers guiding a few of the villagers out of the square. They quickly rushed over to him.

"Rogers, what happened?" Rogers spun to them.

"I don't know. The villagers were saying something about an explosion. Luckily, it seems no one was hurt."

Suddenly, a low growling sound started coming from the fire. Derek, Odette, and Rogers turned to see the flames take the shape of a large dragon. The dragon pointed its head to the sky and let out a loud roar. Suddenly, the flames began to recede and die down and the dragon seemed to shrink with it. Moments later, as the dragon and the flames completely disappeared, a man stood in the center of the square where the fire had been. He was a man in his mid-thirties, clad in black leather armor that was jagged at knees, elbows and shoulders, and wore a black dragon-like helmet that covered all but his face. His face was well groomed and he had a small patch of black hair on his chin and blood red eyes. The very appearance of this man would have struck fear into the hearts of lesser men, but Derek looked on him with anger. This person had somehow caused a fire and almost injured his people. Derek was not going to take this lightly.

"How's that for an entrance?!" the dark figure said as if this was all a game to him.

"Who are you?!" Derek demanded as he moved Odette behind him so she and the baby would be safe.

"The name's Draco," the man introduced as he looked over at Derek. "And I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time, Derek." Draco then look past Derek's shoulder and at Odette. "You and your lovely wife Odette."

"You know who we are?" Odette asked worriedly.

"How could I not?" Draco asked amusingly. "I was Rothbart's apprentice."

"What?!" Odette responded in shock, "You were Rothbart's apprentice?" Draco nodded.

"Indeed I was, at least until he betrayed me before turning you into a swan and made me lose everything, just like how he betrayed Clavius and Zelda. He seems to have trouble keeping promises and allies, bad luck really."

Odette shook a little, not just at the thought of when Rothbart turned her into a swan, but also at the fact that he had an apprentice. Derek, sensing the situation becoming more intense, took his sword out to prepare for an imminent fight.

"If you're looking for the Forbidden Arts, you're too late!" Derek shouted, "I've already destroyed them, they are no longer on the face of this earth and they can't hurt anyone ever again!"

"Oh, I know you did," Draco said, "But given how I was Rothbart's apprentice, you don't think he never taught them to me before he died, do you?"

"So…you already know most of them?" Odette asked as she began to shake.

"Correct," Draco said before shrugging, "Well, it wasn't until recently that I acquired the Power to Destroy, but you get the idea."

Derek glared at Draco, "What do you want?!"

"I'm glad you asked, Derek," Draco responded, "I'm here to kill you and Odette so the Forbidden Arts can live on and I can change the world."

"Over my dead body!" Derek exclaimed as he pointed his sword at Draco.

"I just said I was here to kill you! Don't you ever listen?!" Draco said in annoyance before rolling his eyes, "I honestly don't know why Odette wanted to marry you in the first place."

"Listen Draco!" Derek shouted angrily. "Do whatever you want to me, but you leave Odette alone!" Derek was infuriated by the situation. It was only an hour ago that he had found out that he and Odette were having a baby, and now someone wanted to take his family away from him again, but he was not going to allow it.

Draco looked up for a moment, pretending to think it over, "Sorry, not in the cards. I'm here for both of you, so just one of you isn't gonna cut it."

"I won't lose her again!" Derek shouted.

"In that case, why don't I kill you first?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"No!" Odette cried out as she tried to get past her husband to face Draco, but before she could, Derek stopped her.

"Odette, stay back!" Derek instructed, "If he's really after both of us, then I can't let you go near him!"

"Then what are we going to do?!" Odette asked.

"You know what?" Draco said annoyingly, "I'm getting impatient so I'm just gonna finish this."

Draco then held out his hand and created a ball of red energy, but before he could attack, Puffin swooped down from out of nowhere and attacked him, "No one hurts the prince or princess! Not while Puffin's around!"

"Get away from me!" Draco shouted as Puffin pecked at him, before blasting him with the Forbidden Arts, knocking the bird out.

"Puffin!" Odette screamed as her animal friend fell to the ground unconscious. Suddenly, a turtle shell came shooting past them, with a frog on its back.

"Be gone, you foul villain!" The frog shouted bravely as he and Speed flew towards him, but Draco made no move, he merely yawned and flicked his wrist. A magical light popped up in front of the shell, causing the frog and turtle to shoot back. Odette caught them in her arms just as she picked Puffin up.

"Now where were we?" Draco asked, but suddenly, Derek, who was charging at him during Puffin's attack, slashed him across the left eye with his sword and then punched him to the ground. As Draco fell onto the ground, blue bolts of electricity shot from his fingertips, but it wasn't his doing.

"What have you done?!" Draco demanded as a ball of light formed in his hand that grew in size and engulfed him, Derek, Odette and her friends. When the light finally faded, all six of them were gone without a trace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for this LAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTEEEE update. My life has been a whirlwind of school, exams, and just life in general.**

 **First things first, I am…FINALLY…finished with school, so for the time being at least, I can finally focus on my writing which means more frequent updates. However, I have to find a job soon, and next year is my first year at college, so not sure how long it will last.**

 **However, I will try to get farther with this story.**

 **Again, sorry for the late update. Especially you Autobot0001. I know how long you have been waiting for this!**

* * *

Derek's head pounded as he awoke. He held his head as he sat up, blinking at the unfamiliar forest around him. He froze when he remembered all that had happened.

"Odette?" He called, looking around. He began to panic when he found no sign of her. "Odette!" he cried out. "Where are you?" He grabbed his bow and ran off into the forest.

"ODETTE!"

* * *

"Did you guys hear that?" Aang said as he cocked his head to the side. Appa growled a little from underneath him. Katara and Sokka looked up from the saddle, watching Aang curiously.

"Hear what, Aang?" Katara asked. Aang cocked his head to the again, looking over Appa's head.

"I thought I heard someone shout 'Oh Death'." He frowned. "Or it might have been 'Go to bed'." Sokka glanced over the side of the saddle.

"Well…I don't know why someone would call that, but I'm pretty sure I don't see any…" He was cut off by the arrow that whizzed past his ear as he turned to speak to Aang. He screamed and shot back into the saddle falling on his back. "What was that?" He screamed in panic. Katara yelped as an arrow shot past her from below. Aang pulled on Appa's reins and steered them out of the way.

"Appa, yip yip!"

* * *

Derek paused as a shadow passed over him. He glanced up and saw a creature, flying without wings. It looked like a hairy horned beast with six legs. A single thought came to mind.

'The Great Animal.' Derek glared at it as he notched his arrow. Rothbart had been able to use the Forbidden Arts to transform into a beast. Who's to say his apprentice wouldn't be able to do the same? He aimed and released the arrow. It missed, shooting past the beast's side. Derek thought he heard a shout, but ignored it as he notched another arrow and let it fly. This one missed as well, and the beast finally realized it was under attack. Derek followed it movements and let loose another arrow.

* * *

Katara yelped as an arrow grazed her upper arm. She clutched the burning cut as Aang and Sokka turned to her with frantic eyes.

"Katara!" Aang leaned over Appa's head, then grabbed his glider and flew down to the ground. Katara watched him leave in panic.

"Aang! No!"

* * *

Derek paused as something jumped off the beast's head, and orange wings seemed to extend from its back. He took to aim at the new target when…

"WAIT!" Derek froze as the new creature… person, flew close enough for him to discern the form. It was a boy, no older than twelve. He was bald, with a strange blue arrow on his head. He wore yellow and orange clothing that reminded Derek of a monk. The boy looked terrified, and Derek lowered his bow as he landed in front of him. His wings disappeared into a staff. The boy focused his gaze on him. "Please, why are you shooting at me and my friends?" Derek lowered his bow completely.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were riding that beast." The boy frowned.

"Appa isn't a beast." A roar sounded above then and Derek hunched down as the beast landed behind the boy. Only then did he notice the other occupants on the beast. A boy and a girl, around 15 or 14 years old. They both wore blue clothing that seemed tribal in style. The girl's hair was done in an odd style. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, then a braid hung down her back. There were also strange loops of hair tucked into the bun from her hair. The boy's hair was also odd. The sides of his head were shaven, but the very top of his hair was left alone, pulled back into a short ponytail. A strange, monkey-like creature with large ears, popped out from behind the boy's shoulder.

"Who are you? And why were you shooting at us?" The boy asked again, and Derek bowed.

"My name is Derek. I'm sorry for shooting at you and your friends. I mistook you for an enemy." He explained slowly. The boy on the beast's back jumped down, glaring at him.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Derek recognized the look of suspicion in the boy's eyes, and dropped his bow. He bowed his head low.

"Please. I'm looking for my wife. We were attacked and we got separated. I just want to find her." The girl jumped down from the bea…from Appa and stood between the two boys.

"What's your wife's name?" She asked gently. Derek sighed, relieved that they seemed willing to listen.

"Her name is…"

He didn't get to finish, as a scream echoed across the forest. A scream Derek recognized.

"ODETTE!"

* * *

Odette held onto her friends tightly as she found herself surrounded by men in red armor. They didn't seem to carry any weapons, which was odd, yet they still held their fists in a threatening position, as if to beat her with her bare hands. Her arms moved down slightly as she turned her body away from the men.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in these parts?" One of the men asked. Odette was too scared to answer, the threat that was looming around her keeping her silent. The man grew impatient. "Answer me wench!"

"How dare you call our Princess that!" Puffin flew from her arms and raced down at the man, pecking violently at his helmet. The man screamed and swung his arms around while the other men stared in numb surprise. Speed snuck out from her arms and bit one of the soldier's feet, causing him to scream in pain and swing his leg about to dismantle the turtle, but Speed held on for dear life. Jean-Bob jumped from her arms with a triumphant yell.

"Take that, you vile savages!" Suddenly, a ball of fire hit the ground close to Jean-Bob. He screamed and jumped back into Odette's arms, while Puffin and Speed backed away. Odette stared horrified at the burnt spot.

"The Forbidden Arts?" she whispered.

"Are you mad?!" One of the men shouted at his comrade. "You just attacked a spirit! Who knows what they could do to us?" Hearing that, Jean-Bob had an idea.

"That's right!" he leaped out of Odette's arms and stood in front of the men, who backed away as he puffed out his chest. "Do not come any closer, or we shall have to unleash our awesome and terrible power, and you don't want that!" One of the guards stepped forward.

"Go on then, show us what you can do!" he shouted. Jean-Bob deflated, flicking around his hands.

"Well, I…" Suddenly, a burst of wind flung the soldier back into a tree, knocking him out. Everyone stared at Jean-Bob, who in turn stared down at his hands. Then, with a triumphant smile, flicked his wrist at another man. This time, water shot out from seemingly nowhere and soaked the man. Jean-Bob laughed, and flicked his wrist one last time. A strange whizzing sound was heard and an object hit another man in the back of the head. That was the last straw.

"Let's get out of here!" The man shouted, as they grabbed their fallen comrade and dashed into the woods. Jean-Bob turned and bowed to Odette.

"No thanks needed, Princess, I was just doing my duty." Speed rolled his eyes, then they widened at something behind the frog.

"I don't think you were the one doing those things Jean-Bob." At this point, two children stepped out from the cover of the bush, while another dropped down from a tree. The two that were on the ground were a young boy and girl, barely teenagers in blue clothing, and the other was a bald boy in yellow and orange robes. Then another man stepped out from behind a tree, and Odette felt faint with relief.

"Derek!" she cried as her husband rushed up to her.

"Odette!" Derek scooped his wife into his arms, kissing her and holding her close. "Are you alright? How is the baby? Did they hurt you?" Odette managed to smile.

"No, the guys made sure they didn't get too close to me." She sighed, leaning into her husband's embrace. Then the eldest boy stepped forward, tucking his weapon into its holster.

"You're lucky we showed up too. Fire Nation soldiers are dangerous." Jean-Bob stood tall and scoffed.

"Well, _I_ could have taken them on. And I obviously did!" The children stared at the frog, eyes wide. Then the eldest reacted…

…by letting out a high pitched scream.

"A SPIRIT MONSTER!" He turned, waving his arms in the air and running at top speed, screaming all the while, until he slammed into a tree and fell back. The girl shook her head in annoyance. The youngest boy continued to stare at Jean-Bob.

"Sokka, I don't think they're spirits." Derek snorted.

"Believe me, they're not." Odette swatted at him with her arm, and he snickered. She turned back to the children.

"They're just talking animals." She assured them, though that only seemed to confuse them more.

"Talking animals? Is that even possible?" The girl asked, skeptical. Puffin flew past her face, laughing as she stared at him.

"Oh, it's possible alright, lassie." He said joyfully. Jean-Bob guffawed.

"And I know it's possible for me to do this!" He shouted in triumph flinging his arms out and closing his eyes. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and continuously flung his arms, but still nothing. "Wha…? Why isn't it working?!"

"Oh, you mean this?" The young boy stepped forward, waving his arms in a slow circle and lowering into a stance. He suddenly jumped, spinning in the air before landing and shoving his arms forward. A gust of strong wind blew from his hands. Puffin flapped his wings doubly as hard to withstand the wind, while Jean-Bob flew back into Speed, who held his ground well. Odette and Derek were left speechless.

"How…how did you do that? Are you some kind of enchanter?" Derek asked cautiously, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword and subtly moving to place himself between the children and Odette. This also caused him to miss his wife's look of concern as she placed a hand on her stomach.

The boy raised his brow, confused.

"Enchanter? I'm not an enchanter. I'm an airbender." He said. Derek paused.

"A what?" Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Derek?" He turned to see Odette with a worried look on her face as she held a hand to her stomach. He was instantly on high alert.

"Odette? What's wrong?" He asked, as he placed an arm around her. Odette didn't meet his eyes, merely continued to hold her stomach.

"I…I don't know…there's almost a sort of tingling sensation." Puffin landed on Derek shoulder.

"It might be from the scare lass." He said gently, trying not to startle her too much. Derek glanced at Puffin gratefully, before turning back to his wife.

"We should get you home and have a physician look you over." He offered gently. Odette nodded gratefully holding onto his arm. The boy stepped forward.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. Derek was hesitant at first, but a single look at the boy's face revealed genuine concern. He decided to risk it.

"She's pregnant. I'm worried that the stress of those men attacking her might be affecting the baby. We need to find a physician." The girl stepped forward.

"We have a map if you guys want to find the nearest town." She offered. Derek smiled at her gratefully, nodding his acceptance.

As he looked over the map, the eldest boy came to and rubbed at his head as he stood with them. Derek's brow furrowed as he studied the…unfamiliar map.

"Is something wrong Derek?" Odette asked gently.

"This map makes absolutely no sense." He answered, frustrated. The eldest looked affronted.

"What do you mean it doesn't make sense? It makes perfect sense!" he said, waving his arms at the map. Derek held up his hands.

"What I mean is this map doesn't look like any map I've ever seen. And I can't find Swan Lake." This comment caused the children to glance at each other.

"Swan Lake?" the girl asked. Odette nodded.

"Yes. That's where we live." She explained. The youngest boy rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I've never heard of that place before." Jean-Bob scoffed.

"Have you been living under a rock your entire life?" he sneered. The eldest shrugged.

"Close. He's been frozen in a giant ice burg for a hundred years."

Silence.

"…Come again?" Derek asked. The girl stepped forward.

"We'll explain everything later. Right now we should get…what was your name again, ma'am?" she asked. Odette opened her mouth, prepared to give her full title, then paused and thought against it.

"Odette." The girl smiled.

"Right, sorry. We should get Odette to the nearest village and have a healer look her over." She kneeled next to Derek to ponder over the map. "It looks like there is a village a mile from here. We can walk to there." Derek and Odette shared a glance, relieved that there might be someone who could help them. The youngest boy jumped up, smiling from ear to ear.

"Great! Let's go!" He shouted, turning to start marching toward the village, but the eldest boy stopped him.

"Hold on, Aang. This village is under Fire Nation occupation." The girl looked up at the boy, who Odette noted for the first time looked very similar to her. Siblings, maybe?

"This is another life at stake here, Sokka. It's a risk we'll have to take." She said firmly. The boy sighed.

"Fine. But the animals can't come with us. Don't wanna draw attention to ourselves." Speed looked up at Odette.

"So what do we do while you're gone?" He asked. The youngest boy kneeled down to him.

"You guys can wait with Appa." He said cheerfully. Odette looked up.

"Who's Appa?" She asked.

"My Flying Bison. Your husband tried to shoot him down with arrows." Odette gasped and smacked Derek's arm.

"Derek!" She shouted, scandalized. Derek rubbed his arm, sheepishly.

"I thought it was the Great Animal." He said in his defense.

"We'll discuss this later."

* * *

 **Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, it seems everything is alright." The doctor said as he gently checked Odette over. Odette managed a smile as she looked to Derek, who stood with a worried look in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Derek asked as he looked to the doctor. The Earth Kingdom doctor turned to him with a smile.

"Yes, young man. Your wife and child are perfectly fine. I suspect your encounter with those Fire Nation soldiers caused you to feel a little stressed. Not that I blame you, they stop at nothing to make everyone's lives miserable." The doctor said as he placed his tools back on the shelves. He reached over and took a bottle and small sack of herbs and handed it to Derek.

"Here, young man. Have your wife drink this tonight, then mix a spoonful of herbs into a tea every morning. It should help for the coming bouts of morning sickness." Odette kept half an ear on the conversation as she turned her eyes back to the children. They had stayed in the corner of the room, silent as the Doctor looked her over. She took in their appearance.

In the earlier confusion, she hadn't noticed how different they looked. The eldest boy and the girl both wore blue clothing, in a strange, almost tribal. The boy's hair was shaved on the sides, while the middle part was pulled back into a small ponytail. The girl had two loops of hair that were sectioned off with two blue beads, and the loops went around her head to meet in the middle of her hair bun, which sat almost in the junction of her head and neck, and from there, it hung down in a neat braid. Their hair was dark, their skin tanned. And their blue eyes stood out clearly. The boy had a white necklace that seemed to be made of bone. From the similarities, she guessed they were somehow related.

The youngest boy seemed to be the polar opposite of the two. He was dressed in yellow and orange clothing, in a style reminiscent to that of a monk. His skin was pale, and his brown eyes seemed to spark with youth. He was bald, and for the first time, Odette noticed the strange light blue arrows that were tattooed on his head and on the parts of his hands that were visible to her. She suspected that they were all over his body.

"Hey." She said, drawing the children's attention. She pointed to the tattooed boy, and his eyes widened. "I've never seen those kind of ta…" she trailed off when the children started to gesture wildly for her to stop speaking. The eldest seemed especially insistent, waving his arms back and forth before miming keeping his mouth shut. She blinked, then looked up at the doctor, who had noticed her falter and raised an eyebrow. She glanced around the room wildly, her eyes searching for something she could…ah! "…uh…those kind of tapestries before." She said finally, gesturing to the tapestries behind the doctor. The man turned and smiled.

"Ah yes, those were commissioned from Ba Sing Se by my father. Wonderful work." Odette glanced at the children, who all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Odette smiled and turned her attention back to the doctor.

"Well, everything appears to be in order, so, I think you can be on your way." The doctor added with a smile. Derek and Odette stood and walked toward the children. The girl reached into her pouch and pulled out a few coins and placed them in the Doctor's hand.

"Thank you." She said gently, then turned to leave. The boys and Odette and Derek followed her, as they were out the door, the doctor called out to them.

"Wait! Those markings…" he said, as he gestured to the youngest boy. "Are you the Avatar young man?" Odette and Derek looked down at the boy in confusion. The boy tugged on his collar and smiled nervously.

"There!" A shout made them turn, and to Odette's horror it was the same men from before, in the red armor. "Get them!" The girl suddenly grabbed Odette's hand, and started pulling her along.

"This way!" she cried. Derek and the boys followed running at top speed. The armored men pursued them. They ran along the streets taking as many turns as they could, and barely avoiding colliding with any other civilians. The youngest boy ran ahead of them.

"This way!" he said as he turned sharply left. They all followed…

…right into a closed off alley. The boy quickly tried to backtrack.

"Oh, not this way." They all turned around attempting to leave the alley, when the soldiers cut them off.

"We've got you now." One of the soldiers said, as they closed in on them. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet moved, lifting and tilting the soldiers over. They fell to the ground, and Derek and Odette saw four people behind them, dressed in green clothing. Their arms were raised, and their legs were in s solid stance. They suddenly waved their hands and rocks rose from the ground, floating in front of them. The soldiers turned.

"They're Earthbenders!" one shouts. The children suddenly move in front of Odette and Derek, the youngest holding a staff. The woman before them bowed to them.

"It is an honor to fight alongside you, Avatar." She said, before slipping into her battle stance once more. By that time, the soldiers had regained their footing. Three of the soldiers faced the people at the opening of the alley, while the other two faced the children. Odette watched as the girl moved her hands in a waving motion. Suddenly, the water from a fountain nearby lifted into the air as if by magic. She watched in awe as the girl moved her arms towards the one soldier, then she jerked her arms. The water surrounded the man's chest before turning to ice. Meanwhile, the group that had come to their rescue brought their fists up, and a rush of pebbles flew into the faces of the soldiers. Derek noticed how the eldest boy threw what appeared to be a v-shaped weapon at the soldier, but it missed. The soldier threw his head back and laughed.

"You missed!" he shouted, but Derek was surprised when the weapon spun back and hit the man in the back of the head. The boy caught the weapon, laughing.

Finally, the youngest boy spun the staff in his hand quickly, and Odette and Derek felt a breeze picking up around them.

"Look out!" He called out, and their rescuers moved out of the way. The boy swung his staff in a wide motion, and a powerful wind blew the soldier out of the alley and into the opposite wall. All of them were knocked out.

Odette and Derek were stunned. What had they just witnessed?

The people came back into view. The children bowed to them.

"Thank you for the help." The youngest boy said. The peopled bowed to him too.

"As I said, it is an honor to fight with you, Avatar." The woman said again. She then looked past the children to Odette and Derek, and pulled a face. "However, if you wish to stay undetected, your companions may have to change their clothing." Derek and Odette looked down at their clothing, realizing she was right. They stood out like sore thumbs against everyone else. The children were also looking at them now. The girl pinched her chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I may have something for Odette, but I don't think we have anything for Derek." The woman looked at them and smiled.

"Well, if he would accompany us, we could go and buy his some Earth Kingdom clothing. His skin is a bit pale, but it should help him to stand out less." The boys nodded.

"Ok, we'll come with you." The youngest said, before turning to the girl. "Will you two be ok till you get back to Appa?" The girl nodded.

"We'll be fine Aang." She said with a firm nod. She turned to Odette with a smile. "Ready to go back?" Odette looked up at Derek who gave her a shrug. She turned back to the girl and nodded.

"Alright."

* * *

A little while later, Odette and the girl reached the clearing where they left the animals.

"Odette, you're back." Speed said as he got up slowly. Puffin flew off of Appa's head and landed on her shoulder.

"Is everything alright?" He asked with concern. "Where is Derek?" Odette smiled.

"Derek and the others went to get him some clothing, so we can blend in more." She explained. The girl moved over to her pack, pulling out some blue clothing and handing it to Odette. "These belonged to my mom. I packed them in just in case. When you start showing, I think I'll be able to adjust them." Odette smiled and took the clothing.

"Thank you…um…" she paused. "…I'm afraid I never caught your name." The girl blushed and giggled.

"Sorry. With all the excitement, I forgot to introduce myself." She smiled at her. "My name is Katara. The older boy is my brother Sokka, and the other boy is Aang." She turned to the two animals behind her. "You've already met Appa, and that little guy…" she said, pointing to a strange lemur-like creature with massive ears, who was having a staring contest with Jean-Bob. "…is Momo." She finished with a smile. Odette nodded, smiling.

"I am Odette." She said with a small curtsy. Katara bowed back.

"You can hide behind Appa if you'd like to get dressed. Odette did so and quickly disappeared. She quickly put the clothes on. A navy blue skirt covered her feet, with a cerulean long sleeved shirt. There were strange navy blue cuffs and a tunic of some sort, which she was not sure what it was for. Katara came around to see if she was ok.

"Everything alright?" she started, before seeing her confusion. "Here, let me." Katara pulled the navy blue cuffs up her arms. They reached just below her elbow, causing the sleeves to puff, like her own. Katara helped her into a lapis colored tunic with short sleeves and white seems. To finish, she put on some brown boots that reached mid-thigh, and were lined with white fur.

"There, now you look like you're from the Water Tribe." Katara said, before glancing at her hair and frowning. "Except for your hair. That still stands out a little." Odette looked around and saw a blue scarf. She pulled it over her head, hiding her blonde hair.

"How is this?" she asked. Katara looked her over thoughtfully and smiled.

"That'll work." She said after a while.

"Hello?" they heard a call, and crept out from behind Appa. The boys had returned. Odette took in her husband's new appearance. Derek had gotten cedar colored pants and a long sleeved shirt in the same color. Similar to Odette, he also had cuffs in an umber color that reached just below his elbow, and also just below his knees. His chartreuse tunic had no sleeves, and reached just to above mid-thigh. The belt and the seams were a juniper color. His shoes were the color of pine leaves.

Derek paused for a moment, looking Odette over, before smiling.

"You look beautiful." He said. Odette smiled back. The boys looked over at her. Sokka narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, before turning to his sister.

"Are those….Mom's clothes?" he asked. Katara nodded, looking down. Sokka watched her for a moment then shrugged. Aang looked at all of them.

"So….what happens now?"


	4. Chapter 4

_"_ _So…what happens now?"_

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I would really like to know where you guys came from, why you don't recognize any of my maps, and how those animals can talk!" Sokka finished, growing more and more agitated as he continued, and finally finished at a high pitch. Odette smiled as Katara giggled, and Derek watched as Aang snickered a little. He sighed as he looked over to Odette. She looked at him, and smiled, nodding.

"Maybe we should sit down. This may take a while to explain." Derek said, as he rubbed the back of his neck. Aang looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun had started to set.

"Well, let's set up camp first then. You can tell us your story over dinner." He said with a smile. Jean-Bob perked up at the mention of food.

"I won't say no to that." Speed and Puffin rolled their eyes at the amphibian. Katara smiled.

"Alright then. Odette and I can go and collect firewood, and you boys can put up the tents." She said happily. Suddenly, Jean-Bob jumped up.

"What?!" he shouted, startling Momo who had been napping comfortably on Speed's shell. "You expect a Princess to dirty her hands and help set up a commoner's camp? Preposterous!" There was silence following his outburst. Odette glanced at the children with eyes wide. She had hoped to avoid telling the children that she was royalty. Aang looked to Derek.

"You guys….are royalty?" Derek took in the boy's expression, and sighed.

"Let's….set the camp up first." He said gently. While the children were still shocked, they did not protest. Everyone set to complete their tasks, and soon they had a nice fire going, with all of the tents set up. Katara pulled a pot from the packs on Appa's back and took it to the little stream next to their camp. Odette watched in fascination as Katara drew the water up out of the river with smooth hand movements. She seemed to lead the water down into the pot with her hands, then lifted the pot and placed it over the fire. She shook her head as she realized she was staring and knelt next to the girl.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked gently. Katara looked up at her, surprised.

"You don't have to help me…your highness." She added hesitantly. Odette shook her head.

"Jean-Bob can be a little uptight, but Derek and I certainly aren't. So, what do you want me to do?" Katara stared at her for a moment, then smiled.

"Well then…if you can cut up the vegetables that would be great." Odette reached for the knife but Jean-Bob suddenly jumped in front of it.

"Princess, you should not be expected to do these menial tasks. These are meant for peasants." He said haughtily, waving his hand dismissively towards the children. The children looked visibly annoyed, and Odette was about to scold the frog, Sokka stood up in what was meant to be a very dignified manner from his position by the tents.

"Actually Jan-Bob…" He started, slightly mispronouncing the frog's name, which ticked him off.

"It's JEAN-Bob." He interrupted. Sokka brushed off the interruption.

"Yeah, whatever. My father is the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, so technically, that makes my sister and me royalty." He said with a smug smile. Katara rose her head and nodded.

"Yup. And here we are, doing menial tasks meant for peasants." She stated smugly, looking at the frog. Odette smiled at how skillfully the children had handled Jean-Bob's insult and looked to the frog.

"See, Jean-Bob, if the children of a Chief can set up a 'commoner's camp' without complaint, I can certainly do the same." She finished with a smile, reaching for the knife and starting on the vegetables. Derek looked up from where he had placed the last ten peg, and watched his wife.

"As long as you don't exert yourself, Odette. I don't want you to get hurt." He added. Odette looked at her husband with a gentle smile and nodded her ascent, then went back to chopping the vegetables. Aang sat down with a breeze and watched the women work.

"So…who's gonna start?" He asked, looking around expectantly. Odette glanced at Derek as he sat down along with Sokka, and he sighed.

"Well, I guess, out story starts sometime after Odette was born."

* * *

Draco groaned as he lifted his head off the ground. He tried to open his left eye, but was reminded of the injury he had received from that blasted Prince. He reached up to the cut, pulling away to reveal the blood that stained his fingers. Working some magic into his fingertips, he placed it against his eye. The healing magic spread through his fingers weakly, the magic not quite as strong as the Forbidden Arts, but it did the trick. He would have a scar, but at least he would keep his eye.

Taking stock of his surrounding, his fears for the interrupted spell was confirmed.

"That damn Prince!" He growled. "He's ruined everything!" he hit the ground with his fist, causing it to crack beneath his hand. After a moment, he breathed in through his nose and stood, dusting off his clothing.

"Well, no use crying over spilled milk." He said, as he gazed at the surrounding trees. "Might as well make the best of this situation." He said to himself, picking a direction and walking towards it. When he heard the distinct sounds of towns' life, he cast a spell so he could move unseen amongst the people. He took note of the strange attire, and the shape of the buildings. He was clearly no longer anywhere near Swan Lake. He doubted he was even in the same world.

As he was passing the docks, he spotted what looked like war barracks. Draco noted the stark difference between the structure and that of the town. Its walls were made of metal, and the insignia on the wall was red and gold, in the shaped of a three toothed flame. Curious, Draco crept closer. He spotted what appeared to be soldiers dressed in red and black armor, with white masks. Draco raised a brow.

'Interesting…' he thought as he passed through the gates unseen.

"What do you mean, you were attacked?" Draco paused and turned towards the shout, and spotted what appeared to be a commander addressing his soldiers. And by the looks of things, he was not impressed.

'Now this should be interesting.' He thought as he walked closer to listen to the conversation. Now that he was closer, he could see the characteristics of the man in charge. His hair was tied in a top bun with red ribbon, and he had interesting sideburns. His armor also showed his status in the army. Draco rather liked the look of the man, he had a certain air about him.

"We were patrolling the town when we spotted a group of people leaving the doctor's house. They were three children and two adults. Two of the children looked like they were from the Water Tribes, and I think the girl was a Waterbender, and the younger boy had strange tattoos, like the ones the ancient Airbenders had." The soldier paused when his comrade spoke up.

"He didn't have just the tattoos, he was an Airbender. But I thought they were all destroyed." He finished, confused. Draco turned his head as the commander growled.

"There is still one left." He growled. Draco frowned. He didn't understand the term Bender, but he figured it had something to do with the tattoos that had been mentioned, perhaps they held some sort of power. The commander looked up again. "What about the others?" The soldiers glanced at each other.

"The…others, sir?" one of them asked. The man growled and pinched his nose, closing his eyes.

"You said there were two adults with the children. What about them?" he practically groused. Draco rolled his eyes. He understood the man's plight completely. It was so difficult to find good help nowadays.

"Oh yes. They were strange. They wore strange clothing, I didn't recognized the colors, nor the style of any of the nations." The one answered. The other nodded his ascent.

"Yes, and the woman had golden hair." At this, both Draco and the commander raised their heads.

'Golden hair. He must mean that princess. And if there was a man with her….that means the spell brought them here with me.' Draco thought to himself.

"Did you say golden hair?" The commander asked. Draco turned his head to look at the man. A strange glint had appeared in his eye. One that made Draco's lip quirk.

'So, you are interested in her?' He thought gleefully. 'I could use this to my…'

"Commander Zhao!" Draco turned to see another soldier running up to them with a scroll in his hand. "There is a message for you, from Colonel Shinu." He says, as he hands the scroll to the man… Zhao. "He says you are to return to the Fire Nation, to oversee the blockade during the Solstice." Zhao reads the scroll with a frown, then rolls it up giving it back to the soldier.

"Send the Colonel a message. Let him know that he can expect me in a week." He finished. The soldier bowed, with his hands held in a strange position, and ran off to complete the order. Zhao turned back to the two soldiers. "As for you, keep an eye out for that group of people, especially the tattooed boy and the golden haired woman. Send me a message as soon as you locate them."

"Yes sir!" the men bowed and ran off. Zhao also turned and left, shouting at men to prepare a ship. Draco followed his movements, when something caught his eye.

He spotted a boy hiding in the bushes not far from their location. He was dressed in a camouflage, which clearly indicated he did not want to be seen. What drew Draco's attention, was the scar that was visible on his face. It covered his left eye, and travel back towards his ear, as if a flaming projectile had hit him in the face. The boy snuck away, but Draco stayed where he was.

'I'll let this play out. If I play my cards right, at least one of these men, will lead me to those damned Royals.'

* * *

"…and, that is the whole story." Derek finished. By now, the sun had long set, and everyone had eaten their fill. Odette glanced at the children, who all sat with jaw dropped expressions staring at the two. Sokka shook his head.

"Wait, let me get this straight." He sat his bowl down and started counting on his fingers as he spoke. "Your dad banished a guy that tried to overthrow the kingdom with some Dark Arts…"

"Forbidden Arts, Laddie." Puffin interrupted. Sokka waved him off.

"Yeah, Forbidden, whatever. Your parents then had you meet every summer so you could fall in love and marry, it worked but then Derek messed up by saying something stupid. Then that wizard guy…"

"Evil Sorcerer." Speed said.

"Aright Sorcerer, he comes back, kidnaps Odette and turns her into a bird…" Katara rolled her eyes.

"They said it was a swan Sokka." She said.

"CAN YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME!?" he shouted, then calmed down, and continued. "The spell could only be broken by declaring your love to the world, which you did, but the Sorcerer guy tricked you by making his ugly assistant look like Odette, which ended up killing her, Derek then fought the sorcerer, defeated him, and Odette came back to life. Then after you two got married, another guy showed up wanting the Forbidden arts, kidnapping your mother, and when you went off to rescue her, the old guys apprentice turned Odette into a swan again in order to save you, you guys caught the guy in a volcano, got your mother back, the guy died in the explosion, and the spell was broken again." Sokka paused and sucked in a deep breath.

"THEN another sorceress showed up, trying to get the Forbidden arts too, she caught a bird that could imitate voices and found out you guys kept the first sorcerer's notes. Then she snuck into the castle, pretending to be an "accordion slave", and seduced your advisor, and stole the notes. But you had taken the last bit of the notes, so she then kidnapped Odette and sent you a ransom note. You fell for it and went after her, she got turned into a swan again, and when the sorceress got her powers she sent them to destroy Odette, you fought and she got destroyed, but then Puffin came back and said Odette was dead. You burned the notes and she magically came back to life again. NOW there is another guy trying to destroy you, only this time when he tried to cast a spell, your friends interrupted him, which you assume ended up with the spell bringing you all here, AND YOUR WIFE IS PREGNANT!" Sokka finally finished, took a deep breath, and collapsed backwards. Puffin flew over to the boy, landing on his chest and looked him over.

"Ya know, when you put it like that, we have been through quite a lot." He nodded towards Odette. Aang looked up at them.

"How do you stay so positive? It sounds like every person you meet wants to kill you." Odette nodded.

"Well, I guess we always trust that things will work out, as long as we have each other." Odette reached for Derek's hand, and he smiled and kissed her hand. Katara smiled at the two of them.

"So, what about your story?" Speed asked. Odette nodded.

"Yes, and how were you and those people able to control nature?" Katara sighed.

"Well, we don't control nature, we control elements. There are four elements, and each one has its own nation. Air, Water, Earth and Fire. There are the Water Tribes in the North and South poles, where Sokka and I live, The Earth Kingdom, where we are now, the Fire Nation and the Air Temples. A hundred years ago, the Fire Nation destroyed the Air Nomads, and start the 100 year war." At this point she looked at Aang. Aang looked down at the ground, a sad look in his eyes.

"I….wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I was traveling when Appa and I fell in the ocean, and we ended up being frozen in an iceberg. I…missed most of what the Fire Nation has done." Derek felt sorry for the boy.

"You're the last of your people." He said. Aang nodded. But then Katara spoke again.

"But Aang isn't just an Airbender. He's the Avatar." She added.

"The Avatar? What's that?" She asked.

"The Avatar is the bridge between the Human and Spirit worlds. They can control all four of the elements. And every time an Avatar dies, the next Avatar is reincarnated in the sequence. Since Aang's past life was a Fire Bender, he became the next Avatar." She explained. Sokka finally sat back having caught his breath.

"This also means that Aang is the only person who can defeat the Fire Lord, but Aang needs to master all four of the Elements if he wants to have a chance." Aang nodded.

"I've already mastered Airbending, which means that the next element I need to master is water." He said, pointing to his arrows.

"That's why we are traveling to the Northern Water Tribes. To find a master to teach Aang and me waterbending." Puffin scratched his head.

"But, you just said you are from the Water Tribe. Aren't there masters there?" Katara shook her head.

"No. I'm the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am not a master." She said sadly. Odette looked to her husband. And they both had the same idea.

"What if we travel with you?" She asked. The children looked up at her.

"Are you sure?" Sokka asked. "I mean…it could get kinda dangerous." He said glancing down at her still flat stomach. Derek glanced at her too, but then he looked at the children.

"Perhaps, but if it's going to be dangerous for Odette, where does that leave you?" He asked, in a voice that made Odette smile, he was definitely going to be a good father. Sokka frowned.

"We can take care of ourselves. We've gotten this far." He said. Odette smiled.

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean we can't help you on your travels." Katara looked up at them, then glanced at the two boys next to her.

"I….wouldn't mind having another girl in the group." She said softly. Odette smiled at her. Puffin looked at Sokka.

"And Derek is pretty good with a sword, and a bow and arrow. I'm sure he could teach you a thing or two, while we travel." Sokka looked up at Derek, who smiled and winked. Sokka looked around, seeing he was clearly outnumbered and sighed.

"Fine, you can come with us." He said. Aang jumped up with a smile.

"Great! We start tomorrow morning!"


End file.
